England Claims 9th Consecutive Win Against Tough Fiji

Autumn International Series

England (14) 38

Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Feyi-Waboso, Genge, George, Arundell, Itoje Cons: F Smith 5

Fiji (13) 18

Tries: Ikanivere 2, Muntz Pen: Muntz

The English squad racked up four second-half tries to beat a resilient Fijian team in their latest fall test match.

This win extends the English team's winning run to nine games and follows up their triumph over Australia the previous weekend.

The home side opened the scoring through Luke Cowan-Dickie before Fiji responded with scores by Tevita Ikanivere and Muntz.

Number ten Muntz missed both conversions but slotted a penalty to take the visitors further clear before Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored.

Prop Genge and Ikanivere then exchanged tries to spark an thrilling second half.

Replacements Jamie George and Arundell, who demonstrated his blistering speed, touched down to take the hosts into a comfortable lead.

Those scores came around Fijian halfback Kuruvoli spilling the ball when attempting to score.

England captain Itoje, who also entered as a substitute, scored the final try.

Borthwick's side now meet New Zealand this coming weekend in their toughest test on paper this fall.

Prior to this meeting, England had claimed victory in 8 of their 9 matches with the Fijian side – most lately winning 30-24 in the last eight of the last global tournament.

Their sole loss came just weeks before the tournament in France and was a significant shift under the head coach.

With the Pacific Islanders on a five-game streak – their joint longest streak since 1999 – the fixture was always likely to be competitive.

After slick phase play, back rower Cunningham-South made good ground before the hooker forced his way over for the first try from close range, with Ikanivere's try off the back of a driving maul providing a quick response.

Known as the Flying Fijians, that was evident in defense through powerful first-half midfield hits, with full-back Smith, used as a second playmaker, in especial targeted.

But it was the vintage attacking Fijian flare that was the highlight in the first forty as passes out of the tackle cut England's defence open for the fly-half to touch down.

The winger expertly collected a cross-field kick by Fin Smith to take the hosts into the lead after he had been dangerously taken out in the air by Ravutaumada, who was given a yellow card following a bunker review.

England broke clear from the Wallabies last Saturday in the last twenty minutes through the impact of their bench that contained multiple Lions tourists.

A much-changed starting XV from the win over the Australians did grab the next try as the prop crossed following a strong carry by Ollie Lawrence, who was returning to the national side after suffering his Achilles versus the Italians in March.

Nonetheless, after a smart set piece was completed by the Fijian, the coach unloaded several of his bench on the 54th minute – including Lions tourists Pollock and Curry.

With the game still up for grabs, Fiji scrum-half the halfback fumbled of the ball when reaching for the goal line to cancel out replacement the hooker's score.

Flanker Ben Earl, who scored against Australia, produced a spectacular try-saving tackle to keep a narrow lead between the teams.

It topped off another outstanding overall performance by Earl, who picked up consecutive player-of-the-match awards.

Arundell's pace to chase down a kick through showcased exactly why England's bench is so influential.

It is full of stars and talent, which has helped secure victories in the final quarter that were squandered versus the Wallabies and New Zealand last autumn.

Given the Scottish side pushed the All Blacks hard, the English team will fancy their chances of sending a message next week.

Should they win, the substitutes will probably play another key factor.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Lawrence, Dingwall, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Coles, Chessum, Pepper, Earl, Cunningham-South

Replacements: George, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Itoje, T Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Arundell

Fiji: Rayasi; Ravutaumada, Ravouvou, Tuisova, Wainiqolo; Muntz, Kuruvoli; Mawi, Ikanivere, Doge, Nasilasila, Mayanavanua, Sowakula, Canakaivata, Mata

Replacements: Togiatama, Hetet, Tawake, Vocevoce, Murray, Wye, Armstrong-Ravula, Maqala

Sin-bin: Ravutaumada

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Assistant referee: Luc Ramos (France) and Katsuki Furuse (Japan)

Television match official: Mike Adamson (Scotland)